The Cave by the Sea
by Theoretical-Optimist
Summary: The children of Wool's Orphanage visit the sea for a day of sun and fun. But Tom Riddle has other ideas of how to spend his time. Written for Round 5 of The Houses Competition.


-AN All rights reserved to JK Rowling.

House: Gryffindor

Theme: Discovery

Prompt: Hidden Cave

Word Count: 1228

Beta: SecretFruits

"Are you sure we should be wandering away from the rest of the group?" asked Amy Benson. "Mrs. Cole won't be pleased that we've left."

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," said Tom Riddle. "Besides, don't you want to go on a treasure hunt?"

Sweet Dennis Bishop replied, "You know where there's treasure, Tom? Can you show us?"

"Of course," said Tom with a saccharine smile. "Follow me."

Tom led the two children away down the beach. As they walked, the sandy shore morphed into jagged rocks.

When the group was forced to climb across the sharp cliffs to continue on, Amy voiced her concern, "Perhaps we should turn back. This isn't safe."

"Are you scared?" mocked Tom.

Amy bristled at the accusation. "I'm not scared. Where are we going, Tom? How do you know about this so-called treasure?"

"I read about it in a book," he replied.

"What book?" Dennis asked.

Tom's lips curled, "A book about King Arthur and Merlin. They say this is where the Lady of the Lake gave Arthur the sword."

"Really?" asked Dennis excitedly. "Do you think the sword is there now?"

"Maybe." Tom let the temptation linger in the air.

In truth, Tom had read no such book. He couldn't explain why he knew there was a cave in these cliffs or how he knew that something was waiting inside for him. But it was there and he would have it.

"How much further is it?" Amy whined.

"We're here," Tom responded, feeling the rocks pulse beneath his skin. "Can't you feel it?"

Annoyed, Amy huffed, "No, it's just a bunch of dumb rocks on a cliff. There's no cave."

"Be quiet and let me think," he spat. He quickly became impatient. In frustration, he shoved Amy.

"OW!" she exclaimed. "You made me slice open my hand on these stupid rocks." She held her palm up as if to prove her statement.

Tom ignored her hand entirely. Instead, he focused on the blood slowly trickling down the rock. The muddied crimson liquid was carving a pathway into the cliff-face. Slowly, a narrow fissure opened and the entrance to a cave was revealed.

"Wow!" said Dennis with awe. "Where did that come from?"

Amy shook her head, "I don't like this at all. Something doesn't feel right. We should leave."

"But Amy," Dennis moaned, "I want to find the treasure."

"Yes," Tom said, "Let's go find that treasure." He pushed Dennis into the mouth of the cave first and gestured for Amy to follow. Reluctantly, Amy climbed in behind the smaller boy.

Once inside the cave, the children found a large, black lake with an island at the center.

Dennis pointed at the island and cried, "That must be where the sword is! Let's go get it." He took off running, ready to dive in and swim to the island.

"Wait Dennis!" Amy commanded. "We don't know if it's safe to swim here. Mrs. Cole said always to check with an adult before you jump into water. What if there are sharks or a man eating giant squid?"

Tom could feel the cave pulsating around him; calling to him. He relished it. He couldn't explain why he wanted the younger boy to go into the water, but at the moment Tom wanted it more than anything. "Why don't you test the water, Dennis? Then we can all go discover King Arthur's treasure."

"Sure thing, Tom." With a joyful hoot, Dennis skipped into the water.

For a moment, everything was calm as Dennis splashed about in the dark lake. Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a blood curdling scream.

"DENNIS!" Amy cried and barreled into the lake after him. In an instant, both children were pulled underwater by human-like hands.

Tom dispassionately watched Amy and Dennis thrash and struggle for their lives. He considered just leaving and returning to the rest of the orphans further down the beach.

"HELP US, TOM!" screamed Dennis.

'Why should I help them?' Tom thought. 'They're just a couple of stupid children who could drown.' But Tom wasn't stupid. He wouldn't drown. He was too smart to die.

However, Tom was also too smart to not realize what would happen if he returned back to the rest of the group without Amy and Dennis. Mrs. Cole would lead a search for the missing orphans and eventually find Tom's secret cave. Tom knew that the cave was meant for only him now. He wouldn't share it with anyone else.

Tom knew he needed to bring Amy and Dennis back alive.

He considered how he could get them out of the water without going in himself. Suddenly, a blast of fire erupted from the water's surface. Tom didn't know how, but we knew that he had made those flames. The screaming stopped and Amy and Dennis clambered out of the water.

The two children laid upon the bank of the lake and silence fell over the cave.

"Amy? Dennis?" Tom asked as he stared down at them.

Neither child reacted to Tom. Instead, Dennis stared blankly into the abyss while Amy muttered nonsensically. Tom roughly pulled both children to their feet and pushed them out of the cave.

Hours later, the trio of children finally reunited with the rest of the orphanage at the sandy point on the beach.

"Where have you been?" demanded Mrs. Cole.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Cole," Tom said with an apologetic smile. "Amy and Dennis ran off to go swimming on their own. I tried to stop them. I told them that we were supposed to check with an adult before swimming. But they didn't listen to me."

Mrs. Cole rounded on the two children in question to scold them for their careless behavior. However, her admonishment was halted when she observed the vacant expressions on their faces. "Children? What happened to you?"

Amy muttered, "So many hands, so many hands, so many hands," and Dennis stared into space.

"They were pulled under by a strong current, Mrs. Cole," Tom lied. "I jumped in and pulled them to safety, but I think they swallowed too much sea water."

"Oh, Tom! How fortunate you were there to save them. You shall receive a special treat when we return to Wool's. Now come Amy, Dennis. We will try to get you warm," Mrs. Cole said as she guided the catatonic pair away.

Tom was left alone with his thoughts on the beach.

He quite liked that he was to be rewarded. He deserved to be recognized as superior to the other children. He was smarter and better than all the rest.

After all, Tom had been smart enough to make Amy cut her hand where the cave opened. He had been smart enough to let Dennis and Amy test out the water in the cave first. And he had been smart enough to lie to Mrs. Cole regarding his whereabouts today.

No one else would ever discover his cave. Tom was quite confident that Amy and Dennis wouldn't be telling anyone.


End file.
